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Bentley Bentayga SUV 2016: price, pictures and on sale date

The Bentley Bentayga SUV is due on sale in 2016, with a price of around £140,000. Here's what we know so far...

Bentley has ended the speculation and revealed that its first ever SUV will be named the Bentley Bentayga. Now entering the final phases of testing, the luxury SUV is not due on sale until 2016 - but the full production car will be unveiled at a motor show later in 2015.

We already have a good idea of what the Bentley Bentayga looks like thanks to spy pictures, teaser images and our own exclusive renderings. The new Bentley SUV is set to be made at the firm's factory in Crewe, Cheshire, rather than alongside the next Audi Q7, which shares its underpinnings, in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The Bentley SUV EXP 9 F concept was previewed at the Geneva Motor Show in 2012, but the manufacturer later confirmed that it has significantly changed the design in response to customer feedback.

Bentley released a sketch to accompany this announcement that revealed a slightly sportier profile than the upright concept. There’s an uncanny resemblance to Porsche’s Cayenne, too, suggesting the two SUVs will share more than just a platform – they’ll have similar proportions as well.

Bentley SUV: why's it called Bentayga?

“Bentayga is a name that reflects what we know our SUV will do better than any other car in the world – combine the best automotive luxury with outstanding performance to take the Bentley experience to new environments,” said Wolfgang Dürheimer, Bentley Chairman and CEO.

The name is designed to encapsulate the wide variety of climates and terrains that the Bentayga is capable of tackling. It comes from a combination of ‘Taiga’ – the world’s largest snow forest that crowns the entire Northern Hemisphere – and Roque Bentayga, a rugged peak in the Canary Islands.

2016 Bentley Bentayga: spy shots

Bentley's Bentayga luxury SUV was caught testing in a disguised production body as it blasted round the Nurburgring late in 2014. A test mule fitted with the 6.0-litre W12 engine from the Continental GT had already been seen, and we expect the 4.0 litre twin-turbo V8 to appear as well.

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In comparison to the Bentley SUV EXP 9 F concept, we can see the general shape and structure of the SUV will remain intact but a Continental GT face has been crafted onto the front end. Look closely at the images and you’ll see Bentley has added some rather bulbous cladding over the front and rear wheel arches in an attempt to hide its more curvaceous styling.

Viewed in profile and from the rear there is more of a resemblance towards the concept than there is round the front. The steeply raked rear windscreen and two oval exhausts give a more athletic look, while the number plate and rear lamp positioning seems unchanged from the concept car.

Bentley Bentayga 2016: teaser pics and video

Bentley has tiptoed towards the official reveal its Bentayga SUV by releasing a series of teaser videos and images. The latest teaser picture shows the side vents will be sculpted into the shape of Bentley’s classic flying B. A short video (above) of the flagship 6.0-litre W12 model testing at the Big Red dune in Dubai also gave a demonstration of the car’s off-road ability, and the 12-cylinder exhaust note.

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According to a statement from the Crewe-based manufacturer, the black-and-white film below apparently offered “a rare glimpse of the company’s design approach” to show how the new Bentley Bentayga's exterior was developing.

As you can see, the minute-long teaser doesn’t give much away, although there are fleeting shots of the flanks, rear and stylised alloy wheels, with the SUV apparently set to combine “contemporary and distinctive design” and the brand’s meticulous attention to detail.

Also visible towards the end of the clip is a full frontal view of the 4x4’s Flying Spur-inspired front end, as previewed by a teaser image in March 2014 that showed the car emerging from a dust cloud (below). While the two-part headlight configuration passes over unchanged from the concept car, the grille itself appears to have been enlarged significantly, creating a more striking and pronounced nose.

Bentley Bentayga: engines

Not only is the Bentley Bentayga 4x4 the first SUV from Bentley, it will also be the first model from the marque to feature a petrol-electric powertrain. The engine fitted beneath the test mules we've spotted is the familiar 6.0-litre W12 engine but it’s expected the brand will also offer the more frugal 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, too.

The 2016 UK-built Bentley SUV is set to break new ground for the British brand on a number of fronts. Its CEO, Wolfgang Schreiber, has dropped the hint that it will be the first Bentley to use a diesel engine, and the first model to feature plug-in hybrid technology from 2017 onwards.

“We are definitely investigating a diesel engine. It will fit anyway into the platform we are using, so it could make sense to do it,” Schreiber said. “Sales in Europe for a car like that could be very high, and for relatively little investment on our part.” The most likely candidate is an updated 4.2-litre V8 diesel shared with the next-generation Audi Q7 (due in 2014), a car it will share its lightweight aluminium construction with.

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Schrieber also sees plug-in technology as a fit for the SUV. “We will have a plug-in powertrain, but it needs to be more than the existing systems – with more power, more torque,” Schreiber confirmed. “The SUV will get it first, you won’t see it in our existing cars because it's too expensive, but by 2017 the SUV will get it.”

“Bentley is in a good position as part of the VW group,” said Schreiber. “With technology like hybrids you need lots of investment. Smaller companies will struggle, so it’s a good opportunity for Bentley to use synergies from the VW group. For example, batteries can be used across numerous models.”

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Bentley Bentayga: release date

The new Bentley Bentayga luxury SUV will go on sale in 2016, with the company set to invest over £800million in its Crewe HQ and developing new models before then. More than 1,000 UK jobs will be created as a result of this investment.

Dr Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the board at the Volkswagen Group, said: “We believe in the UK as a competitive location for industrial production. Bentley fans all around the world are looking forward to its first SUV. Together we will make this car another true Bentley – powerful, exclusive and successful.”

Bentley SUV price and global sales

CEO Dr Wolfgang Schreiber has revealed that Bentley has had over 4,000 ‘expressions of interest’ in the Bentley Bentayga from customers – way ahead of initial predictions.

Schreiber doesn't expect to have the ultra-luxury SUV segment to himself for very long though: “Competition is always good for the customer. We all know Rolls-Royce is thinking about an SUV, Aston Martin is also considering one we all know about the Range Rover. There could even be some others that come along.”

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And Bentley's sales and marketing director, Kevin Rose, is confident that the SUV will be a showroom success: “Thirty per cent of our existing customers already have a high-end SUV, so if we can convince even a small amount of those into buying the car we have a very strong business case indeed.”

The plan is to sell 3,000 to 4,000 SUVs a year, which would make the new model a crucial part of Bentley’s aim to boost annual sales from 8,510 last year to 15,000 cars by 2018. The biggest markets are expected to be the US and China - accounting for around 50 per cent of sales - with Russia and the Middle East close behind.

Schreiber also said there’ll be a small overlap with the Range Rover on price, suggesting the SUV will start at around £140,000 but prices are likely to rise to £200,000 for the range-topping models.

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Bentley Bentayga could be the first of many Bentley SUVs

Bentley Chairman and CEO, Wolfgang Durheimer, has also expressed interest in a expanding the number of Bentley SUVs, to compete with the likes of Land Rover, albeit at a higher price point. The revelation came during a press conference where Durheimer announced record global sales of 11,020 cars in 2014 – a nine per cent increase on 2013.

“There are good examples in the market, so a derivative is an interesting idea,” Durheimer said. Kevin Rose, head of sales and marketing, added: “We are keeping a close eye on what Land Rover has done with the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and even the Evoque.”

The rapid growth of the SUV segment, which Durheimer revealed is growing at three times the rate of the new car market as a whole, clearly hasn’t escaped his attention and could be the catalyst for both a smaller SUV and sportier derivatives of the car we’ll see later this year.

What do you think of the Bentley Bentayga so far? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below...

Disqus - noscript

Submitted by Andy on Tue, 2013-07-23 11:46.

I hope they aren't serious about it been like that one pictured. Its terrible!! I suppose this is what happens when you let a brand like Bentley fall in to german hands, all substance before style that is not the RR/Bentley way!

Submitted by snarky on Tue, 2013-07-23 16:14.

It won't look like the 2 minute photoshopped Q7 in the picture. Fortunately.

Submitted by Andy on Wed, 2013-07-24 12:27.

Lets hope not! The prototype from the Geneva show isn't any better.

Submitted by Person on Wed, 2013-07-24 18:54.

An ugly, wasteful car for people with huge but uncertain ego,s and tiny penises.

Submitted by Pauline9 on Thu, 2013-07-25 06:08.

The penis reference is so last season.

Submitted by Nicky Chavda on Thu, 2013-07-25 09:14.

it looks like a black cab

Submitted by Mr Reality on Thu, 2013-07-25 10:23.

How many shades of grey the word 'build' can cover... Let's face it, it won't be panel pressing or body in white assembly; it won't be paint (other than specials); They're unlikely to be duplicating all the mechanical assembly fixtures, so they'll be left with trim.... So what they'll actually left with is a trim line - they'll be fitting the carpets, interior and seats that they'll be cutting out and assembling at Crewe. Oh, forgot - of course, they'll be sticking on the (plastic) badges too....

Submitted by Pip on Thu, 2013-07-25 10:38.

Little breasts, then.

Submitted by Ben Tilley on Thu, 2013-07-25 18:59.

The perfect car for SuBo.

Submitted by Best4Tyres.com on Fri, 2013-08-02 09:59.

The Bentley SUV will have more prestige so will appeal to many Range Rover owners who can afford it. Will be interesting to see the final design – I expect it will be quite bling as that is what most Bentley owners want these days.

Submitted by Ibn Faqir Al Comilla on Fri, 2014-06-20 18:44.

surely it will cost 150k so only range rover owners can afford it. range rover is a better car no doubt. for ppl with more money than sense.

Submitted by pauld101 on Mon, 2014-06-23 11:35.

Athletic??? Assume that's 'Billy Bunter does PE'? Oh, and Kevin, because customers are people, you should refer to them as a 'number', they are not a commodity, in which case you'd be right and they would be an 'amount'. Doesn't give a good impression of Crewe's view of their customers.